Mexico – Michmutters

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Sports

Judge denies restraining order for Matt Jones, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford, FedEx Cup Playoffs

Judge denies restraining order for Matt Jones, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford, FedEx Cup Playoffs

A federal judge has denied a request by three LIV Golf Series players, including Australian Matt Jones, for a temporary restraining order allowing them to play in this week’s $US75m PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs.

US District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman made the ruling after a hearing at San Jose on the lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California. The news came on a dramatic day in which Aussie world No.2 Cameron Smith was reported to have signed on for the Greg Norman-led rebel tour.

Jones and Americans Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford had sought the chance to compete in the FedEx Cup playoff opener, the St. Jude’s Championship, that begins Thursday in Memphis.

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Terse Cam refuses to address LIV rumors | 00:43

All three were among those suspended by the PGA Tour after they teed off in their first event of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series in June. The ruling upheld that ban.

“We’re disappointed that Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones won’t be allowed to play golf,” LIV Golf said in a statement. “No one gains by banning golfers from playing.” Gooch was ranked 20th in FedEx Cup points with Jones 65th and Swafford 67th. The top 125 players in season points qualified for Memphis with 70 players advancing to next week’s BMW Championship and the top 30 reaching the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Had they been able to play and reached the Tour Championship, the trio would have earned berths in next year’s Masters and US and British Opens.

But LIV Golf players could not show irreparable harm since they will be allowed to play LIV Golf events when those resume next month in Boston.

While LIV Golf players claim they are independent contractors, the PGA Tour argued they were members and the tour can punish members who violate rules, such as playing in LIV events.

Smith tightlipped on rumored defection | 05:10

“With today’s news, our players, fans and partners can now focus on what really matters over the next three weeks, the best players in the world competing in the FedEx Cup playoffs,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo obtained by The GolfChannel.

LIV Golf has lured away such top stars as Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson with guaranteed money and record purses of $25 million at events.

Jones, Gooch and Swafford were among 11 LIV Golf players who filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, who had been among the 11 players in the lawsuit, has dropped out of the case, his manager said.

Some players at Memphis warned of a frosty reception for LIV golfers had they been allowed to tee off after departing for richer prize money as well as trying to knock PGA players out of their own playoffs.

“Going to be a pretty icy Thursday morning if those guys play,” 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover told The Golf Channel. “They want their cake and eat it too.”

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US

‘El Jefe’ the jaguar, famous in US, photographed in Mexico

'El Jefe' the jaguar, famous in US, photographed in Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — They call him “El Jefe,” he is at least 12 years old and his crossing of the heavily guarded US-Mexico border has sparked celebrations on both sides.

“El Jefe” — or “The Boss” — is one of the oldest jaguars on record along the frontier, one of few known to have crossed a border partly lined by a wall and other infrastructure to stop drug traffickers and migrants, and the one believed to have traveled the farthest, say ecologists of the Borderlands Linkages Initiative, a binational collaboration of eight conservation groups.

That assessment is based on photographs taken over the years. Jaguars can be identified by their spots, which serve as a kind of unique fingerprint.

The rare northern jaguar’s ability to cross the border suggests that despite increased impediments, there are still open corridors and if they are kept open “it is feasible (to conserve) the jaguar population in the long term,” said Juan Carlos Bravo of the Wildlands Network, one of those groups in the initiative.

But some fear for the Jaguars’ future. Although it was the government of President Donald Trump that reinforced and expanded the border wall with Mexico, the Biden administration has announced plans for closing four gaps between the US state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora — the two states the jaguars traverse.

Conservationists do not know how many jaguars there are in the Sierra Madre Occidental, but of the 176 that have been identified over two decades by the Northern Jaguar Project — another group in the initiative — only two others besides “El Jefe” are known to have crossed the border, Bravo said. In one case, conservationists are not sure if the jaguar crossed the border alive or dead since only its skin was found.

The first photograph of “El Jefe” was taken by a hunter southeast of Tucson, Arizona, in 2011, Bravo said. The jaguar became famous in Arizona and a local school named him “El Jefe.” Motion sensor cameras installed in transit areas photographed the jaguar in Arizona again in 2012 and in 2015.

Conservationists were stunned when they confirmed that a photograph taken by another member of the coalition, Profauna, last November in the center of Sonora was “El Jefe.” The discovery meant not only that jaguars could still cross the border but that other jaguars had lost track of could also still be alive, the initiative said in a statement.

Hunted in the southwestern United States for rewards offered by the government to promote cattle ranching, they were thought to have disappeared from the US by the end of the 20th century. Jaguar populations are currently concentrated on Mexico’s Pacific coast, southeastern Mexico, Central America and central South America.

A sighting of jaguars in the United States in 1996 prompted studies that found a reproductive point in the center of Sonora.

The NGOs banded together to operate on both sides of the border to track the cats, create sanctuaries, understand where they moved and seek the support of landowners in the US and Mexico to protect them, Bravo said.

Besides the difficulty of determining where to put cameras to record the animals and the subsequent analysis of the images, conservationists in Mexico face another problem: drug cartels.

“There is a presence of armed groups and drug traffickers” who pass through the same isolated areas as the jaguars, Bravo said by telephone from Sonora. “It is important to move carefully, work with the people in the communities that tell us where not to go. … All of this is making it very, very complicated.”

The border is the main challenge for hopes to repopulate the American Southwest with jaguars, with walls impeding movement by those animals as well as the American antelope, the black bear and the Mexican wolf, Bravo said. Light towers and the roads used by the Border Patrol are also a problem, I added.

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Sports

Nick Kyrgios US Open prospects, odds, could he win? Media reaction to Washington ATP win

Nick Kyrgios US Open prospects, odds, could he win? Media reaction to Washington ATP win

Nick Kyrgios’ career-best run of form has prompted an inevitable debate around one big question — is he a legitimate contender to win the US Open?

The 27-year-old Australian made history by winning both the singles and doubles titles at the ATP event in Washington, a month after he reached his first grand slam final at Wimbledon.

Kyrgios’ ranking has jumped to 37 and a strong performance at next week’s Montreal Masters could clinch him an all-important seeding at the year’s final grand slam in New York, starting later this month.

The enigmatic Aussie caught many by surprise with his run at the All England Club and how he’s since backed up that performance has prompted discussion about whether Kyrgios may now be emerging as the grand slam force many have always thought he could become.

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Kyrgios wins hearts with gift for fan | 00:37

Former world No.1 Andy Roddick is among those who believe the hype is real when it comes to Kyrgios’ prospects at Flushing Meadows, where Wimbledon champion Nick Kyrgios and injury-riddle Rafael Nadal may be absent.

“It’s a big, big deal to me that he goes into Washington, which is a pretty big event in the lead-up to the US Open,” Roddick told Steve Weissman of Tennis Channel on The Rich Eisen Show.

“Brutal conditions….To go through singles and doubles and not to tap out mentally or physically is a big, big sign.

“I think it puts him into the top two, maybe three, favorites for the US Open.”

Stuart Fraser, writing for The Times, said many of Kyrgios’ rivals will be relieved he is on course to be seeded at the US Open — removing him as a nightmare early round potential opponent — and agreed Kyrgios was up as a legitimate force in the singles.

“Whether Kyrgios is seeded or not at the US Open, he will be considered a contender after showing at Wimbledon that he has what it takes to come through several consecutive matches in the extended best-of-five-set format,” Fraser said.

“A potential second-round meeting with Medvedev in Montreal this week would help to determine where exactly he will sit on the bookmakers’ list.”

Kokk downs veteran Verdasco in Mexico | 00:26

Tennis Podcast co-host Matt Roberts said Kyrgios’ Washington performance showed he was likely to build on his success at Wimbledon, rather than it being a flash in the pan.

“I know it’s the first time he’s won a title this season but he has been playing very well whenever he’s played and I do think, I go back a lot to that quote he gave, kind of jokingly, straight after Wimbledon but it was serious at the same time, where he said that if he’d won Wimbledon he might have lost his motivation,” Roberts said.

“I actually think that losing that final, in a way, is probably the best thing in terms of prolonging his career. I think he’s got a little bit of a taste for it now in terms of wanting to see what happens when he properly dedicates himself and really does put his mind to it.

“I think he wants to find out how good he can get. A week like this, he played players that were kind of comfortable for him I think. He’s still only beaten Tsitisapas as a top 10 player in this run. We haven’t really seen him play those absolute top players I suppose.

“I’m interested to see next week when he plays potentially Daniil Medvedev in potentially his second match in Canada.

“That would be a fantastic test for both of them. it’s kind of tough to judge just exactly where Kyrgios’ level is but — an unmotivated Kyrgios is a dangerous player. A motivated Kyrgios is a different thing altogether.”

Co-host David Law warned, however, that history was not on Kyrgios’ side when it came to going all the way at slams.

“I think he is playing the most professional, consistent tennis of his career. Whether that means anything we’ll have to wait and see,” Law said.

“… I still think, best of five sets where you don’t have the help of the surface, he is going to malfunction.

“He is going to get in his own way. Somebody is going to hang on in a match, players peak at grand slams. He’s going to play against players who are playing their best stuff at that tournament and he is going to come apart at the seams, most likely, because that is the history.

RAGE aplenty as Kyrgios wins tie-break | 02:07

James Gray, writing for iSport, agreed despite acknolwedging the Kyrgios hype train “might never have had such a head of steam up as it currently does”.

“Entertainment has never been Kyrgios’s problem: attainment has,” Gray wrote.

“Have you finally got over that hump? There are certainly results in his 2022 record to suggest he might have done, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas (twice), Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev, but his record against the top 20 in 2022 remains six wins and seven losses. For that kind of form to equal victory in New York, Kyrgios will need some help from the draw.

“He is likely to get some as well, since his world ranking will now almost certainly earn him a seeded spot, protecting him from the world’s top 30 players in the opening two rounds. And circumstance – injury to Alexander Zverev and the unvaccinated status of Novak Djokovic – will protect him from two of the top 10 for the duration of the tournament.”

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Entertainment

Olivia Newton-John death: Mystery of Patrick McDermott, one-time lover who vanished at sea

The mysterious fate of Olivia Newton-John's on-off lover Patrick McDermott haunted the singer in her later years after he disappeared without trace amid claims he faked his own death

The mysterious fate of Olivia Newton-John’s on-off lover haunted the singer in her later years after he disappeared without trace – amid lurid claims he faked his own death.

Patrick McDermott, 48, went on an overnight fishing trip with 22 other people on June 30, 2005, but vanished before he returned to dry land without anyone noticing.

For almost two decades afterwards, he was rumored to be in hiding in Mexico, on the run from crushing debts.

But repeated manhunts by police, media and private detectives have never been able to find any conclusive proof, despite constant reports of him being spotted.

‘I don’t think I will ever really be at peace with it,’ Newton-John admitted.

‘I think there will always be a question mark.’

The mysterious fate of Olivia Newton-John's on-off lover Patrick McDermott haunted the singer in her later years after he disappeared without trace amid claims he faked his own death

The mysterious fate of Olivia Newton-John’s on-off lover Patrick McDermott haunted the singer in her later years after he disappeared without trace amid claims he faked his own death

She hooked up with McDermott after her 1995 divorce from first husband Matt Lattanzi and began a nine-year on-off romance with the cameraman.

Newton-John was on a promotional tour in Australia when McDermott disappeared and it was another week after the fishing trip until it was noticed he had gone.

Crew on his fishing boat had found the American’s car keys, passport and wallet on board the boat and his car was found parked at the San Pedro marina in Los Angeles.

But still no-one realized he was missing until he failed to appear at a family event on July 6, with police finally called in on July 11.

By then though the trail had gone cold – and investigators turned up nothing.

McDermott had previously been briefly married and fathered a son, and a court had recently ordered him to pay $8,000 in backdated child support.

Olivia Newton-John (seen here with daughter Chloe Lattanzi) hooked up with Patrick McDermott after her 1995 divorce and began a nine year on-off romance with the cameraman

Olivia Newton-John (seen here with daughter Chloe Lattanzi) hooked up with Patrick McDermott after her 1995 divorce and began a nine year on-off romance with the cameraman

Patrick McDermott, 48, went on an overnight fishing trip with 22 other people on June 30, 2005, but vanished before the boat 'Freedom' returned to dry land without anyone noticing

Patrick McDermott, 48, went on an overnight fishing trip with 22 other people on June 30, 2005, but vanished before the boat ‘Freedom’ returned to dry land without anyone noticing

He had filed for bankruptcy with debts of more than $30,000, prompting speculation he’d faked his death to escape and start anew.

A Coast Guard inquiry admitted they ‘did not find any evidence of criminal action, suicide, accident or hoax in the disappearance of McDermott.’

A three-year probe into the ‘Freedom’ fishing boat found it didn’t carry out any head counts on the day of the trip, causing McDermott’s disappearance to go unnoticed.

Both probes concluded McDermott was likely lost at sea during the night.

But eye witnesses continued to report seeing him around Mexico, where he was said to be living on a yacht off the coast of Sayulita and Acapulco.

TV companies repeatedly sent teams of undercover film crews and private detectives to hunt for him and set up sophisticated online website traps to trace him.

For almost two decades afterwards, he was rumored to be in hiding in Mexico, on the run from crushing debts and said to be living on a yacht off the Mexican coast at Sayulita

For almost two decades afterwards, he was rumored to be in hiding in Mexico, on the run from crushing debts and said to be living on a yacht off the Mexican coast at Sayulita

Eye witnesses reported seeing Patrick McDermott around Mexico, including around Acapulco

Eye witnesses reported seeing Patrick McDermott around Mexico, including around Acapulco

One investigator John Nazarian insisted in 2016: ‘It’s rumored he was with a German national. I spoke to people there.

‘The girl he was traveling with was described as having a German accent.

‘To come up with the conclusion that he fell off the boat, and allegedly no-one saw him fall off the boat, is the most preposterous thing I’ve ever heard in my life.’

All the manhunts proved fruitless though and McDermott remained elusive.

Photographs of a man and a woman said to be McDermott and his new lover in Mexico were published in 2017 by New Idea magazine.

But the claims were undone weeks later when a Canadian couple came forward to say they were the people in the photograph.

Olivia Newton-John put the tragedy behind her to get on with life, meeting future husband John Easterling and marrying him at an Inca ritual in Peru in 2008

Olivia Newton-John put the tragedy behind her to get on with life, meeting future husband John Easterling and marrying him at an Inca ritual in Peru in 2008

Olivia Newton-John put the tragedy behind her to get on with life, meeting future husband John Easterling and marrying him at an Inca ritual in Peru in 2008.

But the mystery continued to stalk her in the years that followed, although she had resigned herself to the fact McDermott was most probably dead.

‘He was lost at sea, and nobody really knows what happened,’ Newton-John told 60 Minutes in 2016.

‘It’s human to wonder. Because whenever you go through difficult times, there’s always those concerns.

‘Those are the things in life you have to accept and let go. Of course questions always come up and that’s human.

‘But you know, I live on.’

WHAT HAPPENED TO OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN’S LOST LOVER?

Theories have raged for almost two decades about the fate of Olivia Newton-John’s on-off lover, movie cameraman Patrick McDermott, 48.

He vanished on an overnight 22-hour fishing trip on the boat ‘Freedom’ out of San Pedro marina in Los Angeles on June 30, 2005.

The boat’s crew found his car keys, wallet and passport on board after all the other passengers disembarked the following day, and his car was found parked nearby.

The crew hadn’t done a headcount so no-one noticed he was missing for another week when he failed to turn up for a family event, with police alerted almost a week later..

Since then speculation has raged about what happened to him, with investigators unable to find any evidence of a crime, suicide, hoax or an accident on the fishing trip.

Officials believe he simply fell overboard and drowned, but conspiracy theorists insist he may have had another boat lined up to meet him offshore.

Others believe he may have planted his belongings on the boat before slipping off, possibly before it even left port, without any noticing.

Private detectives set up a website FindPatrickMcDermott.com to try to trap the missing American into giving himself away, identifying the location of everyone who accessed the site.

Olivia Newton-John kept in touch with McDermott's ex-wife Yvette Nipar (pictured) on the fate of the missing American movie cameraman

Olivia Newton-John kept in touch with McDermott’s ex-wife Yvette Nipar (pictured) on the fate of the missing American movie cameraman

A flurry of web traffic from the Sayulita area of ​​Mexico’s West Coast sparked a hunt for him there without any success.

Others say they spotted him living on a yacht off the coast of Acapulco, 1000km further south.

One investigator claimed to have found him and spoken with him in 2009, claiming he just wanted to be left alone but the claim was unsubstantiated.

Another claimed to have categorical proof he was alive and was on the verge of revealing it – but never did.

Over the years there have been at least 20 sightings of him in Mexico and Central America, but many have proven false.

One set of pictures of a couple alleged to be the distinctive looking McDermott – who was half-Korean and adopted at the age of two – turned out to be a Canadian couple.

His ex-wife Yvette Nipar, the mother of their son Chance, begged for the speculation to end for the sake of their child.

She pleaded with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to block the publication of a book by private eye Philip Klein about her ex’s disappearance.

‘My son has been through enough emotional torment over this,’ Nipar wrote, branding Klein a ‘serial liar’.

‘He has yet to be able to move on.due to Mr Klein’s continual effort to keep him in the public eye.

‘Let him rest in peace.’

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Entertainment

James Packer parties with young women in bikinis on superyacht

James Packer parties with young women in bikinis on superyacht

Australian billionaire James Packer has been photographed on a yacht hanging out with young bikini-clad women.

On Thursday, Mr Packer was seen enjoying his $250 million superyacht out in the Mediterranean Sea off the Italian coast.

The Australian rich lister was there with two unknown women and an unknown man.

American film director Brett Ratner, 53, was also in attendance, who has directed Hollywood movies including X-Men and the Rush Hour franchise.

In one instance, Mr Packer 54, was photographed clasping the hand of a blonde woman while also leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

At another point, one of the women was spotted drinking and dancing on the boat.

Mr Packer wore sunglasses and a dark blue T-shirt and black shorts while his friend Mr Ratner had a gray T-shirt on.

The Aussie business has been spotted spending a lot of time on his superyacht in the past few months.

In July, it was revealed that Danish model Josefine Hanning Jensen had been on-board the billionaire’s superyacht since at least July 6.

There’s no word yet on whether Packer and Jensen are romantically linked, or whether she will join him when he heads back to Sydney.

It’s unclear whether the two women spotted on the boat on Thursday are also models.

As the son of media head honcho Kerry Packer, James Packer has a net worth of US$1.5 billion (A$2.17 billion) according to Forbes.

Two months ago, Mr Packer revealed he had been seeking to lose weight after telling The Weekend Australian last month that he was ready to start the “third act” of his life as he looks towards a return to Australia.

“I’m roughly 130kg now and want to be back to 100kg by the end of 2022,” Packer told the publication.

speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald around the same time, Packer divulged he was down 33kg after quitting alcohol, limiting his calorie intake and exercising daily.

Mr Packer told the newspaper his life was “pretty good right now”, adding: “My mental health is the best it’s ever been.”

He also revealed his mental health had also taken a turn, having quit the antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs he was taking.

With the $8.9 billion sale of his company shares to US private equity firm Blackstone’s finalized on June 24, which saw Packer pocket an enormous $3.36 billion, he’s now ready to plan his return home.

“I want to swim with my kids at Bondi when we’re all in Sydney together next year and be 100kg,” he said from his home in Mexico.

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Sports

Aussie John Millman slammed after Novak Djokovic tweet, weighs into US Open vaccination drama

John Millman has questioned Novak's US ban. Photo: AFP and David Caird

Aussie tennis star John Millman has sparked a Twitter firestorm after weighing in on Novak Djokovic’s US Open status.

Millman took to Twitter to reveal he had pulled out of an ATP 250 event in Mexico after he tested positive to Covid-19.

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But he also took the opportunity to question why Djokovic was currently barred from entering the US to play in the tournament.

“I’m out with Covid. I was just in the (United) states and it didn’t really feel like too many were following any recommendations or guidelines there. Which is fine, but therefore I can’t see then why @DjokerNole can’t come and compete,” Millman tweeted.

Millman entered the conversation. Photo by Michael Klein.Source: News Corp Australia

Djokovic has revealed he is “preparing to compete” at the final grand slam of the season although currently his refusal to get vaccinated for Covid will see him barred from entry to the US.

Under current rules, all visitors to the United States must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

Since his Wimbledon victory, Djokovic has been hoping for a change in the rules in America, despite more than 200,000 new cases and 1057 deaths on August 3. However the average has been around 400 deaths a day, while more than 12,500 Americans died during July according to USA Today.

Millman was slammed for his post and returned an hour later to clarify his stance.

“Let me be clear. If everyone in the country was following guidelines then I’m all for them enforcing a vax entry policy. But from what I saw pretty much no one was, the tournament allows non vax citizens to play and only 30% have had a booster…,” he wrote.

Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg replied to the second tweet, posting: “Could be wrong, but I’m not sure there’s a non-vaxxed US citizen player whose ranking gets them anywhere near the US Open field currently? This remains an issue for one individual.

“And FWIW, media has to show proof of vaccination to get our credentials for US Open.”

Hours later, Millman replied: “Twitter is full of people having all types of opinions on different matters but when an athlete has an opinion on something that is not to do with their sport they are told to ‘stick to your sport’.”

Millman is currently ranked world No. 76 and has automatically qualified for the US Open.

Djokovic was named on the entry list for the grand slam late last month.

Novak is still hoping for US Open entry. Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFPSource: AFP

However, the US Open said it was just the process, not a hint about a possible exemption for the tournament which starts on August 29.

“Per the Grand Slam Rule Book, all eligible players are automatically entered into the men’s and women’s singles main draw fields based on ranking 42 days prior to the first Monday of the event,” a statement from the US read.

“The US Open does not have a vaccination mandate in place for players, but it will respect the US government’s position regarding travel into the country for unvaccinated non-US citizens.”

Late last month, Djokovic took to Instagram to post a picture of him training, hinting he’d be ready to go, even if there was a late change to the US’ entry rules.

“I am preparing as if I will be allowed to compete, while I await to hear if there is any room for me to travel to the US. Fingers crossed!,” Djokovic wrote on Instagram late last month.

There have been plenty of calls for Djokovic to be allowed into the country, including politicians and more than 46,000 people who have signed a petition calling on the authorities to allow a 21-time Slam winner into the country.

But Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic said he doesn’t believe the rules will change.

“There is always hope,” Ivanisevic told La Repubblica.

“Novak will do everything to be there, maybe he will get a special visa. But there are only two weeks.

And, personally, I have zero hope that [Joe] Biden will change the rules before the tournament starts.

“For me it is all nonsense and bull****.

If you are vaccinated but positive you can enter the United States. If you are not vaccinated but negative, you are banned. There is too much politics in sports.”

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US

Supreme Court certifies ruling ending Trump border policy

Supreme Court certifies ruling ending Trump border policy

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday certified its month-old ruling allowing the Biden administration to end a cornerstone Trump-era border policy to make asylum-seekers wait in Mexico for hearings in US immigration court, a pro forma act that has drawn attention amid near-total silence from the White House about when, how and even whether it will dismantle the policy.

The two-word docket entry read “judgment issued” to record that justices voted 5-4 in a ruling issued June 30 that the administration could scrap the “Remain in Mexico” policy, overruling a lower court that forced the policy to be reinstated in December.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said shortly after the Supreme Court victory that justices would need to communicate the decision to a lower court, which, in turn, should lift the order to keep the policy in place in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas. Beyond that, administration officials have said little, including whether any of the thousands subject to the policy since December will be allowed to enter and remain in the United States while their cases are being considered in immigration court.

The White House and Homeland Security Department had no immediate comment on the Supreme Court certification; the Justice Department declined comment. Officials in Mexico had no immediate comment.

About 70,000 migrants were subject to the policy, known officially as “Migrant Protection Protocols,” or MPP, from when former President Donald Trump introduced it in January 2019 until President Joe Biden suspended it on his first day in office in January 2021, fulfilling a campaignpromise. Many were allowed to return to the United States to pursue their cases during the early months of Biden’s presidency.

Nearly 5,800 people have been subject to the policy from December through June, according to figures released Friday, a modest number that would make any reluctance to end it seems less plausible. Nicaraguans account for the largest number, with others from Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela.

A sign posted last week at the entrance to the Salvation Army migrant shelter in Tijuana, Mexico, by the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration appeared to best capture the public understanding of the policy’s status: “Wait for official information! The Remain in Mexico (MPP) program remains in effect. The United States government will inform you of any changes.”

Critics of the policy have been increasingly outspoken about the Biden administration’s reticence on “Remain in Mexico,” and Monday’s certification renewed their calls for an immediate end to the policy.

“It’s a zombie policy,” said Karen Tumlin, founder of the Justice Action Center, an immigration litigation organization.

The final move may rest with US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Amarillo, Texas, a Trump appointee whose ruling last year brought “Remain in Mexico” back.

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Sports

Socceroos set for busy 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule

Socceroos set for busy 2026 World Cup qualifying schedule

The Socceroos’ path to the 2026 World Cup will be a 16-match journey – provided the Australians are among the Asian Football Confederation’s top six qualifiers.

To be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 edition of the tournament will expand to include 48 nations.

With 16 more countries to qualify than the 32 at this year’s World Cup, the AFC will have at least eight representatives and a maximum of nine.

Provided, as expected, the Socceroos are at the time among the AFC’s top 25 nations, they will join the race to reach the 2026 World Cup in the second round of the preliminary qualifiers, which is set to start late next year and will involve 36 teams who will be divided into nine groups of four.

Each nation will play six games in a round-robin, home and away format, with the top two from each group – 18 in total – to advance to the stage known as the AFC Asian Qualifiers.

The 18 teams – who will be divided into three groups of six – will play 10 matches in a round-robin, home and away format, with the top two from each group to qualify directly for the World Cup.

The teams finishing third and fourth in each of the three groups will be drawn into two further groups of three and play two matches in a single round-robin format.

Both of the group winners will qualify for the World Cup.

The two second-placed teams will meet in a playoff, with the winner to represent the AFC in an Intercontinental playoff, where a World Cup berth will be up for grabs.

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